. >>> so with tea party star jim demint's departure from the senate, begs the question is the end nigh for conservatives? let's bring back ari melber, perry bacon, joel sawyer. joel, let's start with you. senator demint's departure has many implications, one of them the influence of outside forces, outside forces, the conservative movement. outside forces of the conservative movement, rather than the leaders themselves. "washington post" pointing out, quote, demint's decision marks a monumental change from a not so long ago era when abandoning a prime perch in the senate to head a think tank would have been unthinkable. but the past decade has shown influence that figures outside elected office, whether tea party leaders or antitax advocates grover norquist can have on the conservative movement. joel, does demint's departure mean that we're going to see an even stronger push by outside groups like the heritage foundation? >> well, you know, i dispute the hypothesis a little bit. outside of what? i view it all as part of one bigger, larger conservative movement. whether it's the heritag